Friday, July 15, 2011

The Alan Brady Show

In "Talk to the Snail", Alan Brady states that his show is ranked #7. Mel corrects him, indicating the show is #17. Is that good, or bad? Consider the competition the "Alan Brady Show" would have had, if it had been a real program in the 1965-66 season:

First, there were nearly a dozen variety shows at that time -- that type show had not yet begun to die out, though it would do so shortly. Alan would have been competing with, among others: Andy Williams, Steve Lawrence, Red Skelton, Danny Kaye, Dean Martin, Jimmy Dean, the King Family, the Smothers Brothers, Jackie Gleason, Lawrence Welk, and Ed Sullivan.

Sitcoms, however, were dominating the ratings, with "The Lucy Show", "The Andy Griffith Show", "Bewitched", "Gomer Pyle", "Hogan's Heroes", and "The Beverly Hillbillies" all in the top 10. Others in the top 20 included "My Three Sons", "Get Smart", "Green Acres" ---- and, of course, "The Dick Van Dyke Show" (on Wednesday nights).

Other programs of note included the game show "I've Got a Secret", "Gilligan's Island", "Daniel Boone", "The Man From UNCLE", "Flipper", "Lassie", "Petticoat Junction", and "I Dream of Jeannie". The number one show overall? Bonanza, then in its seventh season.

Considering the fact that many of these shows can still be seen in syndicated re-runs almost 50 years later, it's safe to say that the '65-'66 season was a strong one -- and that Rob, Sally, and Buddy were doing very well if they were keeping an obsolescent program type in 7th -- or even 17th -- place.

2 comments:

I only just discovered the blog today and I'll be coming back to read more in the days to come. Especially if there are more articles like this one that examines the life within their TV Land "reality".

Are you going to be doing anything special for the 50th Anniversary tomorrow (Oct. 3rd)? That's how I stumbled across the site, by the way. There's a blog called "Thrilling Days Of Yesteryear" which will be hosting a blogathon all day Monday and if you have something prepared you should send him the link.

Even if you don't, you should at least let him know about the existence of this blog so that he could add the URL in to the mix. There are plenty of DVD fans out there and I know they'd love what you've done here!

Toby,thanks for your comment -- which is the very first one I've received. I did this blog for my own enjoyment and that of my family members, who also enjoy the DVD Show. I didn't know if anyone else would stumble on it. I've actually completed the blog, as I've written about all 158 episodes along with some additional posts about various aspects of the show. So there probably won't be any new entries to it.

I didn't know about the "Yesteryear" blog. I'll take your suggestion and send him my URL and see if anything happens. Thanks.